Latest Bigfoot "evidence"

Status
Not open for further replies.
The Shrike said:
Aaaaand Meldrum bases his entire argument for his ichnotaxon Anthropoidipes ameriborealis on Patty's prints from Bluff Creek. So he's either . . .

ridiculously naive and gullible

or

willingly committing fraud by passing off these prints as the real deal.

Which shall we put you down for?
Click to expand...

Fraud.

First he gets money for his lies, then he's accepted as an authority within his own little cult, that's an ego gratification that's very powerful.
 
With Meldrum I think it's ego, ego, ego.

Mythical bigfoot is his only claim to fame and he's not going to back off at any time for any reason.
 
Last edited:
GT/CS said:
With Meldrum I think it's ego, ego, ego.

Mythical bigfoot is his only claim to fame and he's not going to back off at any time for any reason.
Click to expand...

Consider that Meldrum is most likely a sincere believer in bigfoot, and he has tenure, so he can afford to indulge his interests. Since this kind of thing happens often enough--competent scientists veering off into pseudoscience--it's maybe worth pausing to consider the situation.

First, it does create amusement, where bigfoot enthusiasts who ordinarily hate science leap upon Meldrum like he's floating debris after a shipwreck. It seems as if an authority validates their beliefs, though this is not at all how science works. At the same time, Meldrum shows that the conspiracy theories involving bigfoot cover ups by governments and mainstream science is false, though they try not to think too hard about that.

Of course scientists aren't immune from errors of subjectivity. Meldrum must know that the evidence for bigfoot is not there, but he's betting that his feelings on the matter are correct, and that the work he's doing, which is not relevant now, will become relevant later when the existence of bigfoot is finally established.

Since bigfoot seems to be impossible, this will not play out well for Meldrum in the end, but it's okay, since he's losing nothing. He has tenure, the occasional spotlight, and his fantasy that he's on the cutting edge of something marvelous.

Good for him, I guess, but this shows how the process of science, as clumsy as it is, tends to do the right thing by simply ignoring the Meldrums of the world.

This must belong in the Meldrum thread, though. Sorry.
 
^It's relevant to discuss in this thread because Meldrum rests his argument on those Bluff Creek prints. His ichnotaxon paper addresses Patty at length, and boils down to his assertion that the prints are real because the film subject is real. The first time I read his paper I think I involuntarily let out an audible "You've got to me kidding me."
 
I am typing this from about 8,000 feet in the Colorado Rockies and have just spent part of a day at a bit above 12,000. I saw plenty of sign and the animals responsible for that sign: muskrat, moose, elk, bighorn sheep. What a thrill! What I didn't see, nor have I ever was evidence for this sasquatch thing. You'd think that in roughly 50 years of poking about in the backcountry I'd have run into something, wouldn't you?
 
I know there have been many posts asking me questions and I will try and get to them tomorrow. With three teenagers, my time tends to focus on them, as it should. I'm not running away, just been busy. Thanks and stay tuned.

NL
 
GT/CS said:
With Meldrum I think it's ego, ego, ego.

Mythical bigfoot is his only claim to fame and he's not going to back off at any time for any reason.
Click to expand...


Yes, he goes to meetings and is feted and treated as an absolute authority, that must give tremendous ego gratification and he makes money so his motivations seem plain to me.

Just being a college prof doesn't get you groupies.
 
Gilbert Syndrome said:
I don't expect that you'd admit to lying anyway. Odd how you and Chris have had these encounters and yet STILL have 0% proof.
Click to expand...

Bigfoot's like god, if you have experienced it no explanation is needed and if you haven't no explanation will suffice.
 
Gilbert Syndrome said:
Odd how you and Chris have had these encounters and yet STILL have 0% proof.
Click to expand...

To be fair, I've led an interesting life and I have a ton of anecdotes for which I have no evidence. Admittedly none of them consist of seeing impossible things, but still, the main point is that no one can verify the existence of bigfoot after a century of "sightings" in North America, not just that these guys can't back up their stories.

And of course these "sightings" include hoaxes, pranks, jokes, misperceptions, psycho-social distortions, faults of memory including decay and elaboration, and mental illness... and I don't think that list is complete. Yet in places like the BFF, you are given the choice of accepting a story uncritically or calling the storyteller a liar.
 
Gilbert Syndrome said:
It's just funny to read these people when they post things like "come to Minnesota/Ky and see for yourself." Like it's simple.
Click to expand...

There's also those people who believe that bigfoot is following them around whenever they go outside. It goes the full spectrum from funny to sad.

Some people lack the self-awareness to grasp how much they participate in their own perceptions.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top Bottom